Who says coaches can’t win games? It’s easier to do if you are also playing in the game.

On Sunday, Jonathan Wheeldon directed traffic from his centre back spot and also came up with the winning goal off a free kick as the Calgary Foothills U23s beat the Vancouver Whitecaps U23 side 2-1 in a soccer friendly at Enmax Field.

Wheeldon’s boot from 30 yards out snuck through the wall and past goalie William Diaz inside the left post in the 65th minute without leaving the ground.

“I do that all the time,” he said jokingly, while signing autographs for Foothills grassroots kids. “That’s two (goals) in two games, not bad for a centre back.”

Wheeldon added later, seriously: “There was a little gap in the wall and I thought if I could get it in there it was going to be a goal.”

The 25-year-old is the brother of Foothills coach Tommy Wheeldon Jr. He is himself the technical director for Calgary Northside Soccer Club and is the skills coach for his brother’s Foothills Soccer Academy. He played professionally in his native England before coming to Calgary two years ago and is eligible to play for the U23s because Premier Development League allows for up to eight players over that age on each roster.

Sunday’s game was a showcase of Calgary’s new U23 program, which will join the PDL in 2015 after playing an exhibition schedule this summer. The match drew 1,225 fans on a beautiful day at Shouldice Park.

“That atmosphere was fantastic, with all the fans coming out and playing against a team like the Whitecaps was amazing,” said Elijah Adekugbe, whose brother Sam currently plays for Vancouver’s MLS team.

Wheeldon Jr. said the game shows the importance of soccer in the city and the need to bring high-level soccer back. Calgary’s last professional team was the Calgary Mustangs, which played in the A-League from 2002-2004.

“To bring a (Major League Soccer) franchise like the Whitecaps in and then to play well and beat them, just shows that Calgary has talent,” Wheeldon Jr. said.

“And, in fact, four or five of the players in the Whitecaps group are from Calgary.”

That would include goalie Marco Carducci, who played the first half and surrendered one goal, midfielder Mitch Piraux, Mount Royal University star forward Cody Cook of Cranbrook, defender Chris Serban and midfielder Drake Rendle. Rendle currently is part of the Foothills program and will sign with the Whitecaps residency program in the fall. He entered Sunday’s game in the 73rd minute.

Piraux was gracious after the game while also saying the Whitecaps could have been better.

“I don’t think we necessarily played our game,” he said. “Our passing wasn’t necessarily on, things like that. There are some things we need to work on, but credit to Foothills, they came out and played really well and got a good result.

“This was a good showcase for guys who haven’t necessarily been playing and to showcase us as Whitecaps to Calgary.”

Foothills opened the scoring in the 35th minute. Nat Tecle chipped a shot over Carducci from 10 yards out.

Brett Levis drew Vancouver even four minutes later. He was allowed to run loose at the top of the 18-yard box, stepped around goalkeeper Simon Thomas and found the open net.

Thomas is a 24-year-old former Whitecaps professional who is suiting up for Foothills U23s while coaching the program’s young keepers. He made several tough saves Sunday, including a game-saver off Levis’s free kick from 22 yards in the 77th minute.

The Foothills U23s will become the ninth Canadian franchise in the currentl 64-team PDL next season. Sunday’s exhibition may be their only look at PDL competition before then, though Wheeldon Jr. is working on scheduling a friendly with the Seattle Sounders, with the location to be determined.

The Foothills U23s next play MRU at 8:45 p.m. on June 18 at Hellard Field at Shouldice Park.

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